Diesel prices are raised every month by up to 50 paise per litre to trim the losses. Rates were last raised on August 1 after which losses had dipped to Rs 1.33.
The share of diesel vehicles sold in 2014-15 was 37 per cent.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Friday said the government would wait for international crude prices to stabilise before announcing any cuts in domestic petrol and diesel prices.
The government had in April 2002 freed petrol and diesel prices from administrative control, following which the state retailers revised prices every fortnight in line with changes in costs. But, controls were brought back in 2004 when crude oil rose to $37 a barrel and they have stayed high since then with crude oil soaring to an all-time high of $147 a barrel in July 2008.
The government has raised the windfall profit tax levied on domestically produced crude oil as well as on the export of diesel and ATF, in line with firming international oil prices, according to an official order. The levy on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been increased to Rs 2,100 per tonne from Rs 1,700 per tonne, the order dated January 2, said. Crude oil pumped out of the ground and from below the seabed is refined and converted into fuel like petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution Kantilal Bhuria told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that there was no immediate impact of the hike in petrol and diesel prices on essential commodities. Impact of some of the factors, including hike in prices of petrol and diesel could be felt only with a time-lag. While price of rice went up, prices of wheat, atta, chana dal, tur dal, sugar, mustard oil, vanaspati, milk & onion did not rise during the period under review.
Petrol price will go up Rs 3.73 a litre if the domestic prices are aligned with international rates.
The Kelkar Committee has recommended sharp reduction in subsidies on petroleum, food and fertiliser, which the government said was contrary to its policy of protecting the poor.
Deregulating petrol and diesel prices has been on the cards since the crude oil prices came down by $100 from the historic high of $147 a barrel, a few weeks back. But with the rates climbing again, doubts are being cast if prices can actually be freed. Crude oil prices are ruling at $71-72 a barrel, a seven-month high.
'This market for diesel starts at around Rs 6.3 lakh and goes up to Rs 7 lakh, and with Saathi we have our usual price set at Rs 6.5 lakh, so we are slightly on the lower side with a superior product.'
The railways buy an average of 2.4 billion litres of diesel every year spending around Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) annually on diesel fuel expenses for operating locomotives.
The government has slashed allocation of natural gas used for LPG production, and diverted the low-priced fuel to city gas retailers like Indraprastha Gas Ltd and Adani-Total Gas Ltd to meet a part of their requirement for CNG/piped cooking gas supplies, according an official order. The government had in October and November last year cut supplies of low-priced natural gas coming from old fields such as Mumbai High and Bassein fields in the Bay of Bengal, to city gas retailers by as much as 40 per cent in view of limited output.
Cooking gas LPG prices may be hiked next week after under-recovery on the fuel widened to over Rs 100 per cylinder, sources said insisting that the rate hike, including the quantum of increase, is dependent on government permission. If allowed, this will be the fifth increase in cooking gas rates across all categories - households using subsidised gas for cooking and heating purposes, non-subsidised fuel and industrial-sized gas. LPG rates were last hiked by Rs 15 per cylinder on October 6, taking the total increase in rates since July to Rs 90 per 14.2-kg cylinder.
India's electric vehicle (EV) industry hit a new milestone in 2024, with sales surging 26.5 per cent year-on-year to 1.94 million units as of December 29, according to Vahan data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
The government is preparing to bite the bullet, with partial decontrol of diesel prices after the Presidential election on July 19.
The government has cut windfall profit tax on export of diesel and ATF to their lowest while also reducing the levy on domestically-produced crude in line with softening international oil prices, according to an official order. The levy on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been cut to Rs 4,350 per tonne from Rs 5,050 per tonne, the order dated February 15 said. Crude oil pumped out of the ground and from below the seabed is refined and converted into fuels like petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
What's driving consumers to petrol cars? Ajay Modi finds out.
The Maharashtra government has reduced sales tax on diesel from 34 per cent to 25 per cent.
Petrol is currently sold at a loss of Rs 6.68 per litre and diesel at Rs 5.81 per litre. Naik said the Vajpayee government had given Navratna oil firms the freedom to decide fuel prices.
The government's decision to hike diesel price by Rs 5 has shocked the nation.
In Delhi, petrol price down Rs 2.5 a litre, diesel by Rs 2.25
The Congresshas announced a three-phased campaign, "Mehngai-mukt Bharat Abhiyaan".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accused the BJP of rigging the Maharashtra assembly elections and called for a return to ballot paper voting. He also criticized the Modi government for selling off public assets, undermining democratic institutions, and promoting communal polarization. Kharge's remarks come as the Congress prepares for its AICC session in Ahmedabad, where it will present its political and economic views.
Given India's low average salaries and large number of jobs in the informal sector, even a small spike in inflation can put poor consumers at risk.
The government freed diesel pricing last October, providing a level playing field to private companies like Reliance and Essar Oil.
Many individual states experienced higher inflation than the all-India figures during the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). Retail inflation figures in Telangana, Haryana, Rajasthan and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have been higher than national numbers every month of this financial year, shows a Business Standard analysis of state-wise figures, after the March inflation data was released on Friday. Experts noted that persistent high food inflation along with differences in the weights of rural and urban indices plays into the regional variation in inflation rates.
With the latest diesel price rise, coming after a rollback of most of the earlier proposals for a passenger fare increase, Indian Railways' operational surplus is expected to come down by 24 per cent, to Rs 11,707 crore (Rs 117.07 billion) in 2012-13 as against the Rs 15,557 crore (Rs 155.57 billion) anticipated at the beginning of the financial year.
The AIMTC, which had gone on strikes to protest diesel price hikes in the past, said it will hold a meeting of its national members on July 12 to chalk out its future course of action.
This may come as a surprise to many. Retail price inflation in petrol was the lowest at 10.21 per cent in March since November 2020. In diesel, it scraped the bottom of the barrel at 5.19 per cent in the last month of 2021-22 since February 2020. Even liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was at a nine-month low of 9.97 per cent in the month.
Global oil prices have slumped and India has access to larger amounts of discounted Russian crude oil, yet refiners are not passing on their savings to consumers
Amid an outcry over record high petrol and diesel prices, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the Centre and state governments will have to together work out a mechanism to bring retail rates to reasonable levels.
The Petroleum Federation of India, the apex body of public and private oil firms, has submitted to the oil ministry a 100-day agenda for the new government. On top of its list is decontrol of petrol and diesel prices. Currently, public sector retailers sell auto fuel at government-dictated rates, which the private sector competition is unable to match in times of high input cost (crude oil prices).
India has taken up the issue of high oil prices with producer nations and OPEC, demanding affordable rates, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli told the Lok Sabha on Monday. Petrol and diesel prices have shot up to record highs across the country after relentless price increases since early May. Petrol is retailing above Rs 100 a litre in more than a dozen states.
Petrol price on Saturday breached the Rs 83 per litre-mark in Delhi for the first time in more than two years after a rally in international oil prices forced a 13th increase in rates in the last fortnight. Petrol price on Saturday was raised by 27 paise per litre and diesel by 25 paise, according to a price notification of oil marketing companies. Petrol price in Delhi rose to Rs 83.13 per litre from Rs 82.86. Diesel rates went up from Rs 73.07 to Rs 73.32 per litre.
A graphic showing how the average prices for petrol and diesel have moved over the last ten years.
As auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) became the number two player in the retail passenger vehicle segment for the first time in February, powered by its new launches, the company is setting its sights on technology upgrades.
After a spike, losses on sale of diesel have fallen by nearly a rupee to Rs 2.49 per litre as international oil rates have moderated.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday criticized the Uttar Pradesh government over the severe traffic congestion in Prayagraj, claiming it has led to a shortage of essential commodities and inconvenienced devotees visiting the Maha Kumbh Mela. He also posted a video on X with people sharing their experiences and pointing out at the chaos. Yadav alleged that the officials are giving orders sitting in their rooms but are not coming down to the ground and that residents of Prayagraj have got nothing except filth, traffic jams and price rise.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik on Tuesday ruled out any increase in petrol and diesel prices in the run-up to the General Elections saying international crude oil prices have eased.
Despite a massive decline in crude oil prices since 2012 -- Modi has been prime minister in six of these eight years -- petrol in Delhi has become 10 per cent costlier and diesel 97 per cent, as of July 2.
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